1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention generally relates to storage area networks. More specifically, the present invention provides mechanisms for efficiently and effectively configuring virtualization mechanisms in a fibre channel fabric.
2. Description of Related Art
Virtualization is an abstraction that allows efficient use of resources in a manner transparent to a user. In many storage area networks, virtualization is provided at a host or at a target connected to a storage area network. For endpoint virtualization, a target device may include multiple physical disks that allow data written to the target device to be mirrored and striped across disks in a manner transparent to the host and the user. A host writes data to a disk array and the disk array is responsible for managing redundancy features in a manner transparent to the host. In another example, hosts may be responsible for implementing virtualization. Instead of having an end device perform the redundancy operations, a host can elect to mirror and stripe data across a variety of storage devices in a storage area network in a manner transparent to target devices and the user.
With the emergence of intelligent storage area networks, virtualization is being moved to the network. In some examples, fibre channel switches in a storage area network perform functions associated with mirroring and striping in a manner transparent to the hosts and end devices. However, mechanisms for efficiently and effectively configuring virtualization mechanisms are limited in storage area networks.
It is therefore desirable to provide methods and apparatus for improving the allocation and configuration of storage resources in a network using virtualization.